Chapter 50.1

Chapter 50.1

Andre looked down at Miran sideways with an impenetrable expression. Though he kept his lips firmly sealed to maintain a straight face, his mouth corners twitched and his eyes softened. Finally, he smiled and nodded.

“If you promise to sit quietly.”

“Promise!”

Miran lifted Andre’s hand to link their pinkies together, beaming brightly.

He brought over a step ladder that doubled as a stool, placed it next to the kitchen, and commanded sternly.

“Sit, Kang Miran.”

“I’m not a dog…”

Miran grumbled as she sat on the chair, resting her elbows on her knees and propping her chin. Before long, her mouth fell open.

Andre set up a small grill outside and placed two steaks on it, then stood in the camper’s narrow kitchen to grill asparagus and make pasta loaded with large shrimp.

It was fascinating and somehow sexy watching this man, who didn’t look like he’d ever touch kitchen equipment, cook so skillfully. As she swallowed hard while watching the shrimp sizzle, Andre poured white wine into the skillet.

Just as she wondered why he would pour that in there, flames bursted in the skillet.

“Oh my goodness!”

When Miran jumped so hard the stool rattled, Andre chuckled and swirled the pan. As the flames gradually died down, an incredibly fragrant aroma filled the air.

“Why waste good wine by pouring it there and scaring people…”

She grumbled, trying to hide her embarrassment.

Beads of sweat rolled down Andre’s temple. Though all the doors were open, cooking had made the camper van stuffy. Feeling guilty for just watching, Miran grabbed a fan lying in the corner of the camper and fanned him while asking.

“Oh! This is ‘penne’ pasta! Right?

Andre nodded with a slight smile. Thanks to trying various room service dishes at the hotel, she had learned about many new ingredients. Miran asked with a curious expression.

“So where did you learn to cook like this?”

“Chef Noel.”

Andre bit his lip after answering without thinking.

Chef Jean-Baptiste Noel of Lafayette Residence was a chef his mother had poached from a famous noble family when she permanently moved to New York from Paris. The seventy-year-old man who even made his own butter was one of the few remaining masters of authentic French cuisine in the world.

Before Andre left for West Point Academy, the military academy, after graduating high school. Chef Noel was genuinely worried about the Lafayette family’s only heir who would be eating terrible ‘American food’ for the next few years.

A few days before he left for school, Chef Noel called Andre to the kitchen. While brazenly declaring that French cuisine, the world’s greatest cuisine, could never be learned in a day, but even a fool could learn mediocre Italian cooking in minutes, he taught Andre several recipes. This pasta was one of those dishes.

Miran tilted her head and asked.

“Chef… New? Who’s that?”

“…Someone in New York.”

“Ah. In New York.”

That was the end of his answer.

Andre was particularly reserved when it came to personal questions.

‘In movies, FBI agents hide their identity and lie even to family and lovers. Maybe…?’

His build, and the way he never let his guard down. The assumption that Andre might be an FBI agent was strangely convincing.

While Miran narrowed her eyes and let her imagination run wild, looking him over from different angles, Andre finished cooking and set up a picnic table next to the stream.

Sitting across from each other against the backdrop of mountains and valley, they finished their elegant dinner with wine, followed by coffee brewed with a coffee machine found in the camper’s cupboard.

Usually, when people come to valleys, they’d splash around in the water, cook kimchi stew with ramyeon when hungry, and have a boisterous drinking session while eating watermelon that had been soaking in water for dessert.

Though the surroundings were clearly a Korean valley, being with Andre made her feel like a lady on a picnic with a gentleman in a wide-brimmed hat.

Before they knew it, the sun hanging low on the mountainside scattered jewel-like rays across the crystal-clear valley water. The dazzling stream crashed against rocks before flowing peacefully again.